Article support



E. W. PIERIE ARTICLE SUPPORT Oct. 27, 1953 Filed June 1, 1950 Wi /g2 INVENTOR.

EDWARD W. P/ER/E Patented Oct. 27, 1953 UNITED STATES E ATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to racks, such as wall racks, and to a rack which may be easily cleaned and forms a box-like holder on the wall. The rack illustrated and described herein was specifically designed for a telephone directory with the rack being mounted on the wall beside the telephone. It is understood, however, that other articles including books and magazines may be stored in this box-like holder.

One of the objects of the invention is to pro vide a box-like holder which may be easily removed for cleaning and is mounted on a wall.

Another object of the invention is to provide a box-like holder mountable on a wall which may be constructed entirely from two molded or cast pieces.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wall box wherein the box-like holder may be vertically removed from the supporting mounting bracket for cleaning and wherein the box-like holder and bracket have interlocking portions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a very simple inexpensive and practical box-like holder mountable on a wall and easily removed for cleaning. 7

Other objects and a fuller understanding of this invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the inventionfastened to a wall;

Figure 2 is a top view taken along the line 2-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an end view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line l4 of Figure 1.

' The structure illustrated in the drawings may be constructed of material commonly known as plastic material or any other suitable material which may be formed into the shape of the parts illustrated. The structure comprises a modified U-shaped mounting bracket I and a box-like holder Ii. In the drawings, the modified U- shaped mounting bracket I ll is illustrated as holding the box-like holder I I against a vertical wall I2.

The mounting bracket It has spaced vertical legs I3 and I4 which are interconnected at the bottom thereof with a horizontal cross-bar I5. In this particular instance, the mounting bracket I0 is constructed of a plastic with the vertical legs I3 and I4 integrally joined with the horizontal cross-bar I5, whereby each one becomes a portion of the mounting bracket. Each vertical leg I3 and I4 has screw holes I i providing means for securing the mounting bracket to the vertical wall 12.

In this particular instance, the box-like holder H is formed with a front wall I'l end walls I8 and i5, and a bottom 20. Since the box-like holder is supported next adjacent the wall i2, both the top end and the back thereof may be left open. The box-like holder II fits between the vertical legs I3 and E4 of the mounting bracket lil with the bottom 23 resting on the cross-bar i5 as illustrated in Figure 4.

The vertical legs l3 and the end wall I8 have interlocking tongue and groove portions 2| and 22 which extend vertically for a major portion of the length of the vertical leg It and terminate at the top of the structure. The exact structure used in this instance is best illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings, which illustrates an edge view of the tongue and groove portions of the end wall and the vertical leg being interlocked. The other end wall and the other vertical leg M of the box-like holder and the mounting bracket have similar tongue and groove portions. These tongue and groove portions interlock to removably hold the box-like holder II in the mounting bracket Ill whereby a book or other object may be supported by the structure on a vertical wall.

In mounting the structure on the wall, the mounting bracket Ill is properly aligned to allow the box-like holder II to slide vertically on the wall I2 and in the tongue and groove interlock. Thus, at any time, the box-like holder I I may be vertically slid upwardly along the wall I2 and removed from between the vertical legs of the mounting bracket. After the box has been cleaned, it may be re-mounted on the wall by simply sliding the box-like holder II vertically downwardly between the vertical legs I3 and I4 of the mounting bracket Ill until the bottom 20 rests on the cross-bar I5.

Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as herein after claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. An article support for use with a flat vertical Wall, comprising a U-shaped mounting bracket and a box-like holder receivable therein, said mounting bracket being open backed and including a horizontal base bar and first and second legs disposed substantially vertically, mounting holes for screws in said legs, said holes having substantially horizontal axes whereby the mounting bracket may be mounted to said flat vertical wall, first tongue and groove means vertically disposed on said first and second legs, said tongue and groove means having a U-shape in horizontal cross section, said box-like holder being open-topped and open-backed and including a horizontal bottom wall and a vertical front wall and two vertical side walls, said two side walls being substantially mutually parallel and perpendicular to said front wall, said side walls having front and rear edges with said front edges joined to edges of said front wall, said rear edges having second tongue and groove means complementary to said first tongue and groove means, said box-like holder adapted to be received in said U-shaped mounting bracket with said first and second tongue and groove means in complementary engagement, and interlocking in a first direction on a first path normal to said front wall yet non-interlocking in the opposite direction on said first path, said first and second tongue and groove means also being interlocking in both directions along a second path normal to said-side walls.

2. An article support for use with a flat surface, comprising a U-shaped mounting bracket and a box-like holder receivable therein, said mounting bracket being open backed and including a base bar and first and second legs disposed mutually parallel and each being perpendicular to said base bar at the ends thereof, said base bar and said legs thus defining a U-shape in a single plane, mounting holes for screws insaid legs, said holes having substantially parallel axes which are substantially perpendicular to said single plane whereby said mountingbracket may be mounted to said flat surface, first tongue and groove means on said first and secondlegs parallel to the longitudinal dimension of said legs, said tongue and groove means being disposed at an angle not exceeding 98 from said axes, said box-like holder being open-topped and openbacked and including a bottom wall and a. front Wall and two side walls substantially perpendicular to said bottom Wall, said two side walls being substantially mutually parallel and perpendicular to said front wall, said side Walls having front and rear edges with said front edges joined .to edges of said front wall, said rear edges having second tongue and groove means complementary to said first tongue and groove surface means and parallel to the planes of said side walls, said box-like holder adapted to be received in said U-shaped mounting bracket with said first and second tongue and groove means in complementary engagement and when so received said second tongue and groove means being disposed at an angle not exceeding from said axes and not exceeding 90 from said side walls, each of said first and second tongue and groove means having a U-shape with engagement walls preventing movement of said rear edges of said side walls relative to each other and hence providing rigidity thereof in the absence of a back wall on said box-like holder, said bottom wall adapted to abut said base bar in said received position.

3. An article support comprising a U-shaped mounting bracket and a box-like holder receivable therein, said mounting bracket being open backed and including a base bar and first and 'second'legs disposed substantially perpendicular thereto, said base bar comprising the sole interconnection between said legs, first tongue and groove means on the inboard side of said first and second legs, said tongue and groove means having a U-shape in cross section, mounting holes for screws in said legs-outboard of said tongue and-groove means, saidholes having axes substantially normal to the plane of said bracket, said. box-like holderbeing open-topped and openbacked and including abottom wall and-a front wall and two side walls substantially mutually perpendicular, said side walls having front and rear edges with said front edges joined toedges of said front wall, second tongue and groove means connected. to and outboard of said rear edges complementary to said first tongue and groove means, said box-like holder adapted to be received in said U-shaped mounting bracket with said first and second ton ue and groove means in complementary engagement, said complementary engagement being interlocking in a direction generally normal to said side walls for mutual support of said side walls and legs, said complementary engagement also being interlock ing in one direction along a path generally normal to said front wall and yetlpermitting relative movement between said holder and said bracket in the opopsite direction along said'path.

EDWARD W. PIERIE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 485,215 ONeil Nov. 1,1892 881,511 Waters Mar. 10,1908

1,720,309 Wakefield July 9, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 179,427 Great Britain May 11, 1922 274,298 Great Britain July 21, 1927 309,607 Italy July 11,1933 600,597 Great Britain Apr. 13, 1948 

